Industries

Cadbury's Top Holder Bought for M&A, Has `Idea' of Price Wanted From Kraft Franklin Resources Inc. fund manager Anne Gudefin, whose company is the biggest investor in Cadbury Plc, said she targeted the U.K. confectioner as a takeover candidate before Kraft Foods Inc.’s unsolicited approach.

Megha Mittal Moves Family Into Luxury With Takeover of Germany's Escada India’s billionaire steelmaking Mittal family ventured into luxury goods as Megha Mittal, the 33-year-old daughter-in-law of steel magnate Lakshmi, agreed to buy Germany’s insolvent Escada AG.

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Crude Oil Futures Fall as U.S. Unemployment Rate Surges to 26-Year High Crude oil tumbled after the Labor Department reported that the U.S. unemployment rate surged to a 26-year high, undermining speculation that fuel consumption will rebound next year.

Shell Reports Upset at Pernis Refinery Near Rotterdam, Biggest in Europe Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported a breakdown at its Dutch Pernis oil refinery, the biggest in Europe.

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Buffett's Berkshire Profit Triples on Market Advance, Fewer Storm Claims Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said third-quarter profit tripled on the gain in derivatives tied to stocks and bonds.

AIG Plunges as Sales Decline at Property-Casualty, Life Insurance Units American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S., fell the most in two months in New York trading after posting sales declines at its property-casualty and life insurance divisions.

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Saudis Vaccine Health Workers Against Swine Flu Before Hajj Pilgrimage Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, started vaccinating government health workers against swine flu as Muslims prepare for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, risking the spread of the disease.

Democrats Reach Deal on Abortion, Setting Stage for Health Overhaul Debate House Democrats moved to clear one of the last hurdles to a historic debate on legislation to overhaul the U.S. health system, agreeing to a demand by 40 lawmakers to allow a vote on restricting funds for abortion.

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Buffett's Berkshire Profit Triples on Market Advance, Fewer Storm Claims Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said third-quarter profit tripled on the gain in derivatives tied to stocks and bonds.

AIG Taps $4.2 Billion From Treasury for Mortgage Insurer, Plane-Lease Unit American International Group Inc., the insurer rescued by the U.S., tapped the Treasury Department for another $4.2 billion to help restructure its money-losing mortgage guarantor and the plane unit it’s trying to sell.

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Fannie Mae Is Fifth-Biggest Lehman Creditor With $15.8 Billion in Claims Fannie Mae, the money-losing mortgage-finance company seized by regulators, said it has $15.8 billion in claims against bankrupt securities firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that it will at best partially recover.

Stuyvesant Town $3 Billion Loan Moved to Servicer, Fitch Ratings Says The $3 billion loan backed by Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan was transferred to a special servicer at the request of Tishman Speyer Properties Inc. and Blackrock Realty, Fitch Ratings said.

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Skype Founders Friis, Zennstrom Join Investors in Buyout, Drop Litigation The founders of Skype agreed to join the investor group buying the Internet-calling service from EBay Inc. and to drop litigation that had threatened to shut down the company.

Concurrent Computer Says Galleon Executive Krish Panu Resigned From Board Krish Panu, a managing partner at Galleon Group LLC, resigned from the board of software maker Concurrent Computer Corp. after the New York hedge-fund firm’s involvement in an insider-trading scandal.

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GM to Replace Forster in Europe; Reilly, Lutz Said to Take Interim Roles General Motors Co. said Carl-Peter Forster will leave as head of the automaker’s European operations and advise in the transition to his replacement.

Airbus Is Ahead of Boeing by Five Jets as Lead Erodes in Deliveries Race Airbus SAS, which has surpassed Boeing Co. in deliveries every year since taking the top spot in 2003, is just five planes ahead of its U.S. competitor with two months left in the year.

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